Overview
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent publicly rejected the Financial Times article as "explicitly false" and said the paper fabricated his views on Federal Reserve oversight.
- The FT reported he explored using the UK’s Bank of England model, which requires public letters between the governor and the chancellor when inflation misses, to tighten Treasury control of the Fed.
- Bessent said he warned FT reporters before publication, praised only the BoE’s crisis bond‑buying practice, and called the letter system ineffective and bureaucratic.
- He pointed to a 2025 essay on Federal Reserve reforms that did not call for adopting the BoE’s governance, saying it reflects his actual views.
- The dispute lands in a tense political fight over the Fed, as the FT story rests on anonymous sources and Kevin Warsh gave no on‑record support for a related claim about BoE‑style letters.